Chittagong Bureau :The joint exercise between Bangladesh and US Navy “Exercise Co-Operation Afloat Readiness and Training” (CARAT-2015) formally concluded Sunday through a colorful closing ceremony at the Chittagong naval area.Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Rear Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury graced the occasion as the chief guest and Ambassador of US to Bangladesh, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat was present as the special guest. Among the invited guests Naval Area Commanders of Chittagong, representatives of AFD, all the US and Bangladesh Navy participants, delegates from the US Embassy and other senior civil and military dignitaries were present. The entire exercise was conducted under the overall supervision of Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla Commodore Khaled Iqbal. The exercise was aimed to strengthen and enhance current USN and BN Capability in naval operations and it was achieved with high training value. A good number of Bangladesh Navy ships and aircrafts namely BNS Bangabandhu, Samudra Joy, Abu Bakr, Dhaleshwari, Bijoy, Durjoy, Shah Jalal, BNT Khadem, BN MPA and BN Swads took part in the exercise. On the other hand USS Fort Worth, USNS Safeguard, Organic helicopter MH-60R, P-3C MPA, Medical team, Special Forces and other specialized units from US Navy joined the exercise. Through Ex-CARAT both the Navies could achieve the shared maritime security goal in the field of counter-piracy, counter-terrorism, maritime interception operations. It also helped to learn the best practices in search and rescue at sea and maritime law.US MPA P-3C arranged static display for the personnel and family members of BN, BAF and children from BN schools. The US delegation also provided community service to the mentally and physically challenged children of BN Ashar Alo School.
